2007 CY Young Award winner CC Sabathia has seen enough. He’s ready for robot umpires in Major League Baseball.
Complaints about bad umpire decisions feel like they’ve only gotten louder and more common in recent years, with umps like Angel Hernandez becoming household names due to their shoddy strike calls.
Many fans have been hoping to see the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) system implemented in MLB as it has been in the minor leagues for some time now. While not everyone is a fan, it allows players to challenge an umpire’s decision in real time, which could be a way to help move the game forward in terms of accountability without going full “robot umps.”
However, Sabathia says he’s all for going full robotic umpires even if he knows that many current players wouldn’t go for it.
CC Sabathia wants to remove human error and have robotic umpires in the MLB ✍️ @PatMcAfeeShow pic.twitter.com/i5goGj1x1H
— ESPN (@espn) April 15, 2024
“If it was up to me, I would want full ABS, full robotic umpires,” Sabathia said Monday on The Pat McAfee Show. “Talking to the guys and the players in today’s game, they don’t want that. They kinda want the human element, I feel like they’re leaning towards to be able to challenge that pitch right there or challenge that call, where you can tap your helmet, go upstairs, and they can review it.
“It’s a quick thing that they use in the minor leagues. I feel like we’ll go to that before we go to fully automated robotic umpires.”
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has been hesitant to pull the trigger on robot umps and will have to deal with the umpire union if he does want to make a change, but the call for a new system to cut down on bad calls that impact the outcome of games is getting louder every day.
